Title

Archaeological artifacts

Creation Date

1800s

Description

Archaeological artifacts found during the 2017-2018 Pope County Archaeological Survey.

Of the seven artifacts collected, four are architectural: a brown marbled "mineral" type door knob with a metal shank (date range 1850-1930) and three common cut nails of various sizes, one partly clinched from use. Two unidentified pieces of flat metal were also recovered, one with regular perforations that could be part of farm machinery. The collection has a strong architectural bias and, with the association to a nearby depression, indicates the use as a nineteenth century European American style habitation. Although this collection is not easy to date, door knobs or manufactured metal straps would be likely to be associated with the influx of mass-produced items into rural Minnesota with the entry of settlers and well-developed shipping methods such as regional railroads after the 1870s.

The single recovered faunal element was a long bone fragment from a large bird. The fragment matched the general size and morphology of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) humerus, though not enough of the fragment remained to identify to species with absolute certainty. The fragment was spiral fractured, indicating it was broken by humans in the process of procuring meat and bone marrow.